Demon Reincarnate
by FlamingDrake
Summary: Kagome spots a familiar golden-eyed, white-haired stranger in her school, but it's not Inuyasha. How can she live, loving the hanyou of the past and the demon lord's reincarnation of the future? KagSess.
1. Memories

_Hello, everyone, this is Alexis. Since Catharine (Wolfshade22x) quit Fanfiction.net, she gave me permission to work on her stories and revise them any way I like. I'm not going to work on Sesshoumaru's Bane quite yet – she warned me that it would probably be really difficult to think of where to go from the position she's in now. Anyways, I apologize if I'm not quite as good a writer as Cat, but I hope you review anyways. Thanks._  
  
Demon Reincarnate  
  
Chapter One – Memories  
  
Kagome stood looking at the doors of the school, the wind playing with her dark hair. She clutched her enormous yellow backpack tightly as she attempted to summon enough courage to step through those sinisterly inviting doors.

How long had it been since she'd stood here? She could barely remember the last time. After all, this place wasn't important...Inuyasha wasn't here...

She quickly forced herself back to the present time.   
  
Carefully, she placed one foot within the school. Immediately, three hyperactive and rather terrifying girls raced towards her, eyes gleaming.  
  
She sighed inwardly as she turned to face them. "Hi, Eri, Yuka, Ayumi."  
  
"Kagome! You managed to recover from Ebola? I thought it was going to be fatal! We were so worried, especially when your grandfather said you were in a critical state after you got bitten by a snake while you had Ebola and the snake immediately dropped down dead from the disease and then he told us that you were in rehabilitation for using cocaine, heroin, and cigarettes and were were so scared that you overdosed or something or perhaps got AIDS from using intravenous drugs and then he said that you'd run away to California and been caught in a giant earthquake which measured 20 on the Ritcher scale..."  
  
"What?" Kagome blinked at them. Her grandfather was so dead. Actually, he was probably just having fun. It was hard to imagine that her friends were so gullible.   
  
"And then we heard that your foot was amputated. Is that a prosthetic one?" Ayumi inquired, bending down to peer closely at her friend's shoe.  
  
"Um...I'm fine," she finally muttered, backing slowly away. _Remember, in danger, do not make eye contact. Just carefully move away until you can turn around and run.  
_  
Of course, that plan didn't exactly work, since all three of them followed her. "Guess what, Kagome? This absolutely adorable guy just transferred here! He's so cute, and we're pretty sure he's smart, too, which is what you care about, isn't it, Kagome? Plus, he's just so sexy, and he has the cutest name, too! Kiyoshi, Kiyoshi, Kiyoshi, Kiyoshi, Kiyoshi..."  
  
Kagome zoned out after the first three words, nodding occasionally as she headed towards her locker. She spun the dial past fifteen to six, twisted it to thirty, and yanked viciously on the handle.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Infuriated, she slammed her foot into the locker and tried the combination again.

Still nothing happened. The locker received another kick, thus denting it. Inuyasha's habits really rubbed off on her.   
  
"Stupid...stupid...stupid locker!" she muttered as she continually spun the dial and punched the metal over and over again.  
  
Eri frowned. "Is it just me, or has she become more violent than usual?"  
  
"Yes!" The locker door swung open, and Kagome began pawing through the mess to find her books.  
  
Except...the usual mess wasn't there. Most of her papers were gone. And there were binders than she most assuredly had never seen before.  
  
Peering at the top of the locker, checking to ensure that it was indeed seventy-two A, she rummaged through the binders and extracted one. " 'Kiyoshi Taisho? Who's that?'"  
  
"I believe that would be mine," a soft voice replied behind her. She noticed that her friends had fallen uncharacteristically silent as she slowly turned.  
  
Sapphire eyes clashed with gold, and then her gaze darted to the thin crescent moon half-hidden under his silver-white bangs.  
  
The binder fell from her hands, clattering to the floor. "Sesshoumaru," she whispered, and then she was falling, into an impenetrable darkness.

* * *

The girl fell against him, and he automatically reached out to catch her, his arms easily supporting her light weight. He glanced down into her face, the slightly flushed cheeks and the parted lips, and he felt an image stir within his mind...a girl, raising her bow towards him, her face streaked with tears... 

And that name that she'd whispered...Sesshoumaru...he knew that name, the name that'd been haunting his dreams...  
  
He gently lowered her to the ground and walked away gracefully, her sapphire eyes lingering in his mind.

* * *

Kagome groaned as she sat up, peering blearily around at the nurse's office. The nurse herself was busily chatting on the phone and ignoring her completely; as soon as her eyes opened, however, her three stalkers leapt at her.  
  
"You'll never guess what happened!" Yuka squeaked in transports of absolute bliss.  
  
"I fainted?" she replied groggily, rubbing her head.  
  
"Yes. And you'll never guess what Kiyoshi did." Eri smiled and motioned to the other two. Together, all three of them shrieked, "He _CAUGHT_ you!"  
  
Kagome stared at them doubtfully. "Oh. So he caught me. Which must be such a difficult task when someone is falling right towards you."  
  
"Yes, but I'm not finished yet," Eri explained. "After that, he placed you in our care because he was so smitten with you that he knew if he held you for a minute longer, he'd give in to passion and start making out with you!"  
  
Wow. Had her friends always been like this, or had they gotten a lot more warped and twisted since her last stay in the Feudal Era?  
  
Ayumi sighed dreamily, clasping her hands together. "It was such a sweet moment. I wish I'd brought a camera," she gushed melodramatically.  
  
She groaned again, rather loudly, and stood, trying to relieve the dizziness. "I'm going to my class now," she muttered, peering at the clock. Damn; homeroom hadn't even started yet.  
  
Picking up her backpack, she walked leisurely through the still relatively- crowded halls towards her math classroom. Her eyes narrowed as they focused on the sign hanging menacingly from the door.  
  
**_AP CALCULUS:_** The most dreaded class ever, in her mind.  
  
Resolutely, she pushed open the door and smiled apologetically at Miss Takahashi, the rather stern professor. "I'm sorry about being absent for the past few weeks," she remarked as she slid into her seat.  
  
Unfortunately, there was already someone sitting in her seat. With a shriek, she leapt off the chair, glaring at the boy.  
  
Those golden eyes again. Blushing, she stared at him. "What are you doing in my seat?"  
  
"Higurashi," Miss Takahashi explained, "your grandfather told us you were deadly ill and would probably not be back in school for the remainder of the year. Something about how you had cancer. We were all extremely sorry, of course." Somehow, she didn't sound exactly sincere. "However did you manage to recover from the cancer?"  
  
"Cancer? I thought I had Ebola," Kagome muttered.  
  
"Right." The professor blinked, looking vaguely surprised. "Well, seeing as you weren't expected to survive, we basically gave the new transfer student...all your classes and all your seats...and your locker..."  
  
Well, that explained something.  
  
"Well..." Her gaze darted around the class. "Where should I sit, then?"  
  
"I'll gladly give up my seat for you!" a voice shouted from the back. Kagome blinked at the tall, brown-haired youth who was practically fawning over her.  
  
She frowned at him. "Not now, Hojo. Miss Takahashi...?"  
  
The teacher shrugged. "It doesn't matter right now, since you need to be sitting separately from everyone else to make up your tests. Kami-sama knows your grades are low enough without distractions from outside."  
  
"Tests?" Kagome stared at her, panicked. "What tests?"  
  
With a grim smile, Miss Takahashi smashed a thick file of papers on the desk, and Kagome could just catch the first word on one of the quizzes.  
  
Derivative...

* * *

An hour later, Kagome stumbled out of the classroom, a rather petrified expression on her face.  
  
"Higurashi!" a voice called out from behind.  
  
She whirled and yelled back, "The derivative of a quotient is the derivative of the denominator times the numerator minus the derivative of the numerator times the denominator all over the denominator squared!"  
  
Kiyoshi Taisho stared at the obviously insane girl. "Um...hello."  
  
She blushed prettily. "Taisho. Sorry about that."  
  
"You recognized me before, when you called me Sesshoumaru." His voice was accusing.  
  
Kagome flushed and turned away. "Well, you know, I've been around, met a bunch of people. You just looked like someone I knew."  
  
He laughed at that, and she stared at him, apparently assuming that he was now the one who was temporarily insane.  
  
"I've seen you," he whispered, leaning closer to her. "Every night, my dreams lead me to the Feudal Era of Japan. And you're always there."  
  
Her breath caught in her throat.  
  
"I always relive the same scene," he continued. "And in that scene, you're raising your bow, and you shoot. I can see the arrow coming towards me."  
  
She closed her eyes briefly. "You're crazy," she replied evenly. "Feudal Japan? Honestly, Taisho, I'm sure it's just a dream."  
  
A slight look of disappointment crossed his features, but he merely smiled politely. "Perhaps," he answered thoughtfully. He lapsed into silence for a minute before adding, "Since we have identical schedules, maybe we could walk together to our classes."  
  
Kagome paused, but nodded uncertainly.  
  
"Oh, and by the way," Kiyoshi added in a slightly amused tone, "the derivative of a quotient is the additive inverse of what you thought it was."  
  
Her eyes widened, and her piercing shriek of horror could be heard through the entire school.  
  
As she marked a grade of 23 on Kagome's paper, Miss Takahashi laughed maniacally, a laugh which only increased as Kagome's scream reverberated around the building.

* * *

"Miss Higurashi! Delighted to have you back!" the hyperactive Mr. Tsuki (who insisted that all his students call him Totoki, although it was somewhat difficult calling a thirty-seven year old man that) yelled.  
  
"Konnichiwa." Kagome managed to blurt out the greeting as she slid into her seat, calmly ignoring the surprised protests Kiyoshi made. "It's my seat," she hissed at the boy.  
  
He nodded his acknowledgement. "I'll go get one from the auditorium," he answered, turning and sauntering out of the classroom.  
  
Why, oh, why, did he have to be so damn unflappable?  
  
It took ten minutes before Kagome, who was in somewhat of a stupor as her glazed eyes wandered over the first page of Romeo and Juliet (the class was actually supposed to be on page fifty-six, but with the exception of the teacher, none of them were), realized that perhaps Kiyoshi wasn't as avid a student as someone whose reincarnation was Sesshoumaru should have been expected to be.  
  
She glanced at the clock and fought the urge to laugh. Didn't Mr. Tsuki realize that the auditorium was right next to the English classroom? And that Kiyoshi still wasn't back?  
  
She raised her hand right in the middle of a sweet, sappy, completely disgusting scene between the two main characters of the utterly repulsive play. "Excuse me, Totoki," she called out.  
  
"Ah, Kagome, what is it? Would you like to act out the scene with me?" Totoki beamed at her, his voice still high and squeaky, since he'd been trying to portray Juliet.  
  
Resisting the urge to gag, she shook her head violently. "No, that's ok, you're doing fine. I was just wondering whether I should go look for Taisho. He's been out of class for a while." If Kiyoshi was allowed to skip class 'looking for a desk', then she could skip class 'looking for him'.  
  
"Oh." The sensei considered that and nodded. "Go right ahead."  
  
As she made her way towards the door, Totoki added, "I know teenagers like you arrange places in school for secret rendezvous, and I wouldn't want to spoil yours."  
  
She raced out of the classroom with Eri's giggle still ringing in her ears.  
  
As Kagome expected, the auditorium was completely empty, no sign of the reincarnation anywhere. She grinned and turned to leave when a shout reached her.  
  
"Higurashi, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Hmm?" Spinning around, she caught sight of the reincarnation in question, standing at the other side of the auditorium. "Um...I'm supposed to be looking for you."  
  
"You weren't looking very keenly, were you," he replied sarcastically. "I was waving my arms and yelling your name from here."  
  
Kagome frowned impatiently. "Yes, well, you'll have to excuse me for my temporary blindness and deafness."  
  
"And loss of intelligence. Except that isn't exactly temporary, is it?" He smiled at her slightly.  
  
She glared at him. "Well, Mr. Wonderful, how can it possibly take you ten minutes to find a desk, when this auditorium is full of them?" She gestured at the rows of seats.  
  
Kiyoshi laughed again. "I took a short detour."  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"Satisfying my curiosity."  
  
"About what?" she demanded again.  
  
He grinned roguishly. "About what grade you received on that dismal derivative test of yours."  
  
"You snuck into Takahashi's class to look at her gradebook?"  
  
"Well, no."  
  
Kagome relaxed. "Oh. Because you should know that she's the Angel of Death. So how did you satisfy your curiosity then?"  
  
He pulled something from behind him. "By stealing her gradebook."  
  
She stared at him. "You didn't," she whispered, awed.  
  
Kiyoshi calmly tossed the notebook into the air and caught it deftly. "Do you think she'd be annoyed if I burned this book?"  
  
"One sec." Kagome snatched the book from his hand and scanned down the list for her name. "Higurashi...Higurashi..." Her jaw dropped at her dismal grades. "A twenty-three? I got a twenty-three on the last test?"  
  
"Excuse me, Higurashi. I believe that is my property." Miss Takahashi's voice was a cold as ice as she moved towards them. "Do you know how worried I was that I'd lost my gradebook? I would have had to make all of my students retake every single test on the curriculum! I've been wandering around the school, searching for it!" She paused for breath. "That's it, Higurashi! **_Detention_**!"  
  
"But..." Kagome glanced around for Kiyoshi, but he seemed to have evaporated into thin air.  
  
"No buts, Higurashi!" Grabbing the girl's arm, Miss Takahashi marched her quickly away.  
  
Kiyoshi, perched precariously on one of the ceiling rafters – apparently he'd managed to gain Sesshoumaru's agility and some of his flight – tried not to laugh. Kagome's soft whisper drifted up to him, though.  
  
"Just like Sesshoumaru, to watch callously when someone else takes his blame."  
  
The words stuck like knives in his heart. He leapt lightly to the ground. "Miss Takahashi! Wait!"  
  
The teacher turned, surprised. "Taisho. I didn't see you there before."  
  
"Miss Takahashi, I was the one who stole your gradebook. I was just showing it to Higurashi as proof that I'd done it. Perhaps I was being too supercilious for my own good."  
  
Kagome's head turned, and her eyes bore into his.  
  
The professor frowned. "Fine then, Taisho. But since Higurashi didn't report the incident to me immediately after you showed it to her, you both have detention. Today. During lunch." Letting go of Kagome, the teacher swept majestically away, forgetting that Kagome still held the gradebook.  
  
Kiyoshi glanced at the notebook. "Should we burn it?"  
  
"Definitely." Kagome paused, taking a step closer to him. She lowered her eyelids slightly, and he could see her delicate, long lashes. "Kiyoshi...thank you."  
  
It was the first time that she'd called him Kiyoshi, and he sighed softly. "Thank me? For what? It really was my fault."  
  
She gazed up at him. "You're not like Sesshoumaru at all," she replied, before slowly walking away, presumably back to the English class.  
  
And Kiyoshi, standing there, wondered why her words were so important to him.

* * *

_That's the first chapter. As you can see, it's not exactly the same as Cat's, but I can try. I WANT REVIEWS!!!! -Alexis_


	2. Detention and Discovery

To Raging Jewel: Thanks for pointing out my errors. Here are my responses to them:

Kagome isn't referring to her era. She is, actually, talking about school. Which, in my opinion, has been pointless for me for the past decade or so, although perhaps you view school differently.

Um...yes. I realize I made a big mistake in the Hojo/Kagome conversation...if those two lines can be called a conversation. Although I don't like Hojo, Kagome evidently thinks he's decent. Well...semi-decent, anyways.

Maybe this is based on my lack of Inuyasha info. I've only seen a few episodes of the anime and read up to I think issue 17 of the manga. But as far as I've seen, Sesshoumaru keeps attacking Inuyasha and Kagome every time he meets up with them...and I fail to see how that could be endearing him to Kagome.

Anyways, thanks a lot! Continue criticizing anything I write incorrectly. And to Warm-Ice...No, I've never read My Secret Sesshoumaru. Maybe I'll go read it. Hmmm... Flaming Drake

* * *

Demon Reincarnate  
  
Chapter Two – Detention and Discoveries  
  
Ah, orchestra. The squeaky noises of the none-too-talented freshmen resounded across the auditorium as Kagome winced. She loathed the policy of mixing grades together to form one giant orchestra which sounded horrible. Twitching with every screech, she pulled out her own violin, a beautifully polished Stradivarius, which, according to her grandfather, was some sort of magical heirloom of their family.  
  
She plucked the strings gently and listened carefully at the intonation. It was perfect, as always.  
  
"Kagome, can I borrow your rosin?" Ayumi asked from beside her.  
  
"Sure." Handing over the circular disk of rosin, Kagome waited patiently for Ayumi to finish.  
  
Ayumi rubbed the sticky substance all over her bow hair. "Thanks." She leaned forward conspiringly. "So, what's going on between you and Taisho?"  
  
"He got me stuck in detention." Kagome pouted.  
  
"So...he probably just wants to get you alone for a while..."  
  
"Have you ever seen Takahashi's detentions? There are usually enough people to fill three, four classrooms. I fail to see how that constitutes as alone."  
  
The other girl frowned. "Takahashi? That witch. Oh well, we'd better get going."  
  
Walking up the steps to the stage, Kagome paused as she caught a glimpse of silvery hair. "Kiyoshi!" she called.  
  
He sauntered over, holding his own instrument. Another Stradivarius.  
  
Grrrr. Perfectionist brat. Probably spoiled, and rich, and EVIL.  
  
"Nice instrument," Ayumi complimented thoughtfully.  
  
"Thanks, I inherited it from my father," he began, but Kagome stuck up her nose.  
  
"That piece of crap? Nice? You must be crazy, Yumi. Let's go get seats."  
  
"Um...she's really competitive about violin," Ayumi apologized for her friend.  
  
A smile flitted across his features. "So am I." Smoothly, he began heading for the front of the section.  
  
"Not a good idea!" Ayumi called, but it was too late.  
  
Both of them began heading towards the front seat.  
  
At the same time.  
  
They both began walking more quickly...and faster...and faster...and faster...  
  
And...  
  
And then, failing to notice the folder lying on the ground, Kagome tripped, fell right into Kiyoshi, and ended up sprawled in a rather compromising situation, with her legs wrapped around him and her face millimeters from his.  
  
Ah...this was awkward.  
  
Not that she really minded this position. Except that quite a few people were peering at them and cheering them on.  
  
But that wasn't her only discomfiture. She looked at her precious violin and almost fainted.  
  
"You made me scratch my instrument!" Kagome howled viciously, wishing that she had the Tetsusaiga. Not that she could use it, but still. She pointed to an infinitesimal mark on the violin.  
  
Scrambling off of the boy, she darted to the front seat and sat boldly down, refusing to relinquish her right as concertmaster of the orchestra.  
  
Naturally, he slid in right next to her, ignoring her glares.  
  
The extraordinarily obese man who prided himself on being a 'great bassist' tried standing on the podium, which promptly collapsed. With an animalistic growl, he flung the pieces of splintered wood away from him and raised his arms. "Let's start on the third movement of Rounds." (A/N: This conductor is based on a real person, as scary as it may seem.)  
  
Kagome slapped the music on the stand and scooted subtly away from Kiyoshi.  
  
Well, not too subtly. Another centimeter and she'd have fallen off the stage.  
  
The conductor raised his rather thick arms. Waving his neon green baton wildly at the cello section (which didn't actually come in until halfway through the piece), he motioned for someone to begin playing.  
  
Casting a surreptitious glance at Kiyoshi, Kagome began playing the first measure.  
  
He joined in.  
  
The second measure, slightly accelerated.  
  
He darted a quick glance at her and copied her pace.  
  
Faster. Kagome didn't care that the rest of the orchestra was in chaos; she was the best, and she would prove it.  
  
The two of them raced up the scale leading up to the high G.  
  
Dashing off the next two chords, Kiyoshi launched into the passage which was meant to accompany the lower strings, which had all dropped out by now, unable to go at the speed of the two competitors.  
  
Taking a shortcut, Kagome decided that since there was no one to accompany, that particular passage could easily be skipped. She leapt to the next section.  
  
He followed suit, and though the passage was supposed to be nice, sweet, and peaceful, they barreled through it.  
  
Their speed went another notch higher.  
  
By now, they were the only ones playing, and the conductor was still conducting cheerfully at completely the wrong tempo, oblivious to the competition.  
  
Kagome and Kiyoshi raced through the next sequence, zoomed past the other supposedly peaceful section, and plunged into the final page. Their fingers flew; both soared up the scale into seventh position, where they began crossing strings at an alarming rate.  
  
They skipped the rests before the last arpeggio and ended with three crashing notes on the g string.  
  
And then...silence.  
  
Into the silence, Ayumi whispered, "Who won?"  
  
Kagome turned to stare at Kiyoshi with a kind of grudging respect. His eyes flickered with something akin to amusement, and she flashed a slight frown. "I won," she hissed at him.  
  
"I wouldn't want to deny you your beliefs."  
  
"Shut up." Ahhh, she was so tempted to just push him off the stage. Of course, she was the one closer to the edge of the stage, but perhaps if she offered to let him sit first chair...  
  
"Won what?" the conductor, still completely bewildered, asked. "Was there a contest that I missed?"  
  
Everyone turned to stare at the man incredulously.  
  
"Well...anyways," the conductor continued, "I noticed that your speeds weren't consistent in that last passage. You seemed to be slowing down quite drastically."  
  
Again, the incredulous stares.  
  
"What?" the conductor demanded. "I know I'm not exactly skinny, but you don't have to look at me that way! Stop looking at me!" He rushed down the steps and out of the auditorium.  
  
Ok, that was the second conductor this year who'd had an emotional breakdown.  
  
Slowly, the students began filing off the stage, packing their instruments.  
  
Kagome walked slowly towards the doorway. Hmm...a challenge. Perhaps it wasn't so bad, after all.  
  
She hadn't had a challenge in such a long time.

* * *

Feeling slightly more cheerful, she hummed a rather out-of-tune melody as she moved towards the cafeteria before remembering.  
  
Detention.  
  
"Darn," she muttered, turning and racing towards Takahashi's classroom.  
  
The calculus teacher was waiting with a rather smug expression. "Higurashi, so glad you could join us. Taisho's already in there."  
  
"Good for him." Kagome stormed inside and flung her backpack at the wall, just missing Kiyoshi's ducking head.  
  
"Now," Miss Takahashi continued sweetly – about as sweetly as a Starbucks frappucino mixed with vinegar, anyways – "I have the most wonderful assignment for you two. You'll be working on a special project for me."  
  
They both eyed her warily.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll enjoy it immensely. After all, who wouldn't like deriving EVERY TRIGONOMETRY FORMULA IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD and handing it in on Friday?"  
  
Oh, Kami-sama, no.  
  
Despite the fact that she was in no mood to be deriving trig functions, there was another small fact.  
  
She was supposed to go back to the Feudal Era.  
  
Today.  
  
Inuyasha was going to KILL her.  
  
As soon as Miss Takahashi closed the door, still cackling evilly, Kagome raced over to Kiyoshi. "Kiyoshi..."  
  
"Hmm?" He was currently sketching a picture of Takahashi with her head in flames. Underneath, he wrote the caption 'spontaneous combustion'.  
  
"You're supposed to be deriving trig stuff."  
  
"Really?" He yawned, adding some more fire for good effect.  
  
"Come on, Kiyoshi, please? I can't do it...and you seem relatively intelligent."  
  
"Relative to what? A dog?"  
  
"Actually," Kagome interrupted, "dogs can be really very intelligent. Short tempered, naturally, but they're so cute!" She pictured Inuyasha's fuzzy triangular ears.  
  
"Thinking about your hanyou again?" he teased lightly.  
  
"Well...sort of," she began dreamily, but stopped, realizing what she'd just done.  
  
He leaned towards her, his eyes glittering with triumph. "How interesting. A hanyou, in modern times? I was under the assumption that they only lived in the Feudal Era."  
  
Her eyes locked onto his. "Fine, I admit it, I've been in the Feudal Era," she snapped. "Why do you care, anyways?"  
  
He leaned back, looking oddly satisfied. "No reason in particular. I was merely curious as to whether you were the girl who killed Sesshoumaru or not. How's the Shikon coming along, anyways?"  
  
"It's about half done," she mumbled.  
  
"Good." His smile was predatory. "Not long to wait, then." He glanced at her stiff expression and repented slightly. "Here, you can go back to your hanyou. I'll finish the trig formulas."  
  
"You will?" Her eyes widened. "Um...are you sure?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
She smiled slowly. "Thanks, Kiyoshi," she replied softly. "By the way, you actually have an almost decent violin, although your playing doesn't match it at all."  
  
"The feeling's mutual, Kagome."  
  
But even as she gathered up her books and turned to leave, a strange emotion lingered in his mind.  
  
One that Sesshoumaru had never experience before...but one that his reincarnation could feel.  
  
Relaxing when the last bell rang, Kagome grabbed her bulging backpack and raced home. Ahh, she'd forgotten to go shopping for ramen and chocolate to placate Inuyasha and Shippou, respectively. This was never good. Peace usually rested upon the cooperation of these two foods to subdue the hanyou and the kitsune.  
  
Nevertheless, with an optimistic approach, Kagome strode stolidly down towards the wellhouse, hefting her backpack. She leapt downwards and felt the familiar tingle of time traveling sweep across her.  
  
Hopping out, she made her way towards Kaede's village.  
  
Something wasn't right.  
  
Jogging now, the girl moved towards a clearing by the village, listening for Inuyasha's familiar growls.  
  
She burst upon the clearing, one hand upon her bow, and paused. Everything looked normal. Sango was in the process of bashing Miroku's head in; Inuyasha was trying to strangle Shippou; Kirara was lying on the grass, looking perfectly at ease.  
  
And then she realized it. In an instant, she'd darted to the hanyou's side. "InuYASHA!" she bellowed viciously.  
  
He looked decidedly guilty. "Hnn?"  
  
"There is CHOCOLATE around your mouth! You know perfectly well that chocolate is ONLY for SHIPPOU, because a SUGAR-HIGH HANYOU does not FIGHT very well!"  
  
He licked his lips appreciatively and blinked up at her. "It was good," he mumbled sheepishly. "Besides, the kitsune brat has had too much as it is. He's growing fat." Inuyasha prodded the kitsune with a lazy claw.  
  
"Hypocrite. Do you want those nice, strong muscles of yours to deteriorate into weak, flabby ones like Miroku's?"  
  
Sango giggled. Miroku, rather offended, muttered, "Is it my fault if I don't work out as much as that great dog?"  
  
"Ugh! I am going to go visit Kaede!" Kagome yelped, turning and heading towards the village.  
  
Shrugging absently, Inuyasha pulled the remainder of the chocolate from behind him and continued licking the sweet brown substance, ignoring Shippou's protests.  
  
And then he stopped, his eyes scanning the forest. "Youkai," he hissed.  
  
The others leapt to their feet instantly, Kirara's fangs bared in a feral snarl.  
  
Sniffing the air delicately, Inuyasha frowned. "Sesshoumaru..."  
  
The youkai lord walked from the forest, his golden eyes gleaming. As usual, his goal was the Tetsusaiga, and this time, Kagome wasn't here to stop him.  
  
One leap took him to stand before his half-brother. "Inuyasha...still traveling with your ningen companions? And I thought being a hanyou bastard was enough."  
  
"What do you want, Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha spat the name as if it were poison.  
  
Sesshoumaru answered in a leap that let him soar over the hanyou's head and land lightly on the grass beneath. His claws reached towards the Tetsusaiga.  
  
"I don't think so." Inuyasha jumped away quickly.  
  
The youkai's whip was already snapping, curling around Inuyasha's feet and dragging him forwards. In an instant, Sesshoumaru was at the hanyou's throat, his claws poised. His eyes stared triumphantly at the others. "Well, it seems as if we're at someone of an impasse."  
  
"Not quite."  
  
Heads turned towards Kagome, her bowstring taut, an arrow strung. She'd meant to release it instantly, but paused.  
  
That face...Kiyoshi's face...  
  
Kami-sama...  
  
Her fingers slipped. The arrow shot towards Sesshoumaru, but without its usual force, and he had ample time to dodge.  
  
Damn. She strung another shaft and pointed it at him. "Get out. Now."  
  
"I don't think so. You're too merciful. Ningen filth; you'd never be able to loose that arrow."  
  
Inuyasha's pain-filled gaze hurt her. Her fingers released the shaft, but by that time he was leaping.  
  
Nevertheless, the arrow caught him in the side and sliced through, leaving a wide gash on his left side.  
  
Fifty years in the future, Kiyoshi Taisho gasped in pain as blinding agony swept through him. His hand moved down to touch his left side.  
  
His fingers came away red with blood.

* * *

Yay, another chapter done! Hmm.  
  
Remember, I want reviews! Please?   
  
Flaming Drake


	3. Running Away

_Oops. Someone reminded me that Kagome lived 500 years in the future, not fifty. wince Oh well. I am officially Inuyasha ignorant.  
  
Oh. Yes. And I completely agree that Stradivariuses are extremely rare. Not that I'm any good at the violin. I keep slaughtering the Mendelssohn, which annoys every musical genius I come in contact with, including my cousin and my sister. Not that they're that good, either. growls The reason that Kagome and Kiyoshi both have Strads is because I wanted to portray them as equals who are both very very talented at the violin. You'll see why later.  
  
But as a warning to those who are considering the implications of them having Strads: No, they are not both incredibly rich. Not even Kiyoshi. Sure, Sesshoumaru was a lord in the Feudal Era, but the main point of this fic is that KIYOSHI IS NOT SESSHOUMARU. Just like Kagome isn't Kikyo. Sorry to anyone that offends...  
  
Thanks for all your reviews. –FlamingDrake  
_  
Demon Reincarnate  
  
Chapter Three – Running Away  
  
Kagome paced in front of the door. She was worried.  
  
Well, worried wasn't exactly the word.  
  
More like scared.

Absolutely, completely, terrified.   
  
As soon as Kaede finished treating the struggling hanyou, Inuyasha would come tearing out and begin some sort of rant that would go along these lines...  
  
Inuyasha: WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL SESSHOUMARU, WENCH? YOU WERE A FOOT AWAY FROM HIM AND BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, (use your own imagination here; it's not that hard) BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...  
  
Kagome: Sit...  
  
Inuyasha: (crashing to the ground.) Bitch...  
  
And, after that, the hanyou would probably be in a sulky mood for the rest of the week, and, if he was angry enough, would go back to...Kikyo...  
  
The door slid open. Well, actually, it was ripped apart by the force of Inuyasha's charge. "WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL SESSHOUMARU, WENCH? YOU WERE A FOOT AWAY FROM HIM..."  
  
Instead of the following "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH," however, the hanyou froze and sniffed the air. "Why do you smell like Sesshoumaru?"  
  
Oh, Kami-sama. Kiyoshi.  
  
His golden eyes widened. He took a small step towards her. "Is that why you didn't kill him? Have...have you been meeting with him?"  
  
"Not exactly," she replied, backing away and wondering how many steps she'd be able to take in the direction of the well before he killed her. Of course, the phrase 'not exactly' was not exactly the best answer in such a situation, but it was rather hard for her to think quickly in this position.   
  
Inuyasha's eyes narrowed to slits. "You bitch! Do you meet him every night?"  
  
It only took her a second to figure out the implications of that query. Her hand lifted and slapped him, hard, across the face, with all the anger and hurt she felt.  
  
Turning, she raced towards the well, and he didn't follow, his hand still held to his throbbing cheek.

* * *

"You told her WHAT?" Sango demanded, her tone turning rather vicious.  
  
Inuyasha blinked morosely at the door. He shrugged petulantly. "It's her fault. She should have killed him..."  
  
Miroku frowned. "Inuyasha, you basically labeled her as someone only I would befriend."  
  
Sango's glare was now directed towards the unfortunate monk, who quickly looked away.  
  
The hanyou stood angrily. "I already said I was sorry," he snapped.  
  
Sensing that there was true grief hidden behind the fury, Sango intervened with a sigh. "You're apologizing to the wrong people, Inuyasha."

* * *

Kagome growled to herself as she pulled herself out of the well. "That jerk!" she muttered, heading towards the house. "I mean, he has no right to say stuff like that, what with his whole fraternization with Kikyo..."  
  
Visibly upset, she ignored the placating meows of Buyo and stormed up the stairs to her room.  
  
"Hey, Kagome!" Souta called from below.  
  
"Hmm?" She really wasn't in the mood for her pesky little brother.  
  
The boy scrambled up anyways. "Someone called. Taisho Kiyoshi, I think. He sounded a bit urgent." He grinned mischievously. "You don't happen to be two-timing Inuyasha, are you?"  
  
She flung her pillow at him. "Get out!"  
  
"I was only joking..."  
  
"Out!"  
  
The door slammed behind him. Kagome picked up her phone and stopped, realizing she didn't have Kiyoshi's number.  
  
Perhaps he was online. She flipped open her laptop and realized she didn't have his screen name, either.  
  
Well, all that meant was that she'd have to delve into the network of teenage girls from her school.  
  
Which would probably take about an hour.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit." Lying on the floor of his room, Kiyoshi wondered vaguely if an invisible arrow had sliced through him. That was what it felt like, anyways. It was perfect timing, of course; he'd just finished calling Kagome's house to tell her that the trig stuff was finished, his parents had left for some convention or other, and right when he was about to go online, he suddenly had to start bleeding everywhere.  
  
And, coincidentally, his cell phone had been placed, as usual, back on top of his desk. And...well...he really couldn't move that much without further destroying his carpet. Which was already stained.  
  
He decided that the carpet was a lost cause. He forced himself to his feet and reached for the phone.  
  
Five minutes later, he was in the back of an ambulance, groaning as the idiotic doctors poked and prodded him.  
  
The hospital was rather large, with a huge amount of doctors, but, as luck would have it, he got stuck with the worst one.  
  
"Can you tell us how this happened?" Dr. Kurihara asked politely. She was only a few years older than him, with extremely long hair and even, white teeth.  
  
Ugh. The way she kept flipping her hair around was annoying him. For Kami- sama's sake, this was an hospital, not a fashion show!  
  
In response to her question, however, he mumbled, "I don't know. I was placing my phone back on the desk when I started bleeding."  
  
"Oh." Another toss of the head. He was going to kill her. "Have you had any injuries there before?"  
  
"I...don't think so."  
  
And then he stopped. Half his mind was automatically responding to Kurihara's questions, but the other half...  
  
The other half was connected to Sesshoumaru's mind...  
  
Which was replaying the most current memory...  
  
Kagome, shooting an arrow through the youkai lord's side.  
  
"How old are you, Kiyoshi?"  
  
The doctor's oversweet voice cut into his thoughts. He jerked his mind away from Sesshoumaru's with a subtle curse. "Seventeen," he muttered, growling at one of the attendants, who was trying to take his blood pressure.  
  
"And you've never experienced a situation like this before?"  
  
He stared at her incredulously. "Do you think mysterious wounds appear all over me at random times?"  
  
"It hasn't happened to most people, but then again, most people never even experience one mysterious wound."  
  
Ahh. Point conceded. Still, he needed a plausible explanation. After all, the one he currently had wound lead to a rather strange reaction, perhaps landing him in an insane asylum. He could just picture it: "I'm connected to a demon lord from the Feudal Era. When a certain girl from this age travels to the Feudal era and manages to hurt that demon lord, I get hurt as well, because of some theorem or other which states that someone from the future can change the past. Therefore, once the girl accomplishes her goal and kills the youkai lord, I'll die, too."  
  
At that point, Kurihara's reaction would probably be something along these lines: "Well, that's wonderful, Kiyoshi. Now, just follow those nice men in the white suits who will take you to a wonderful new home. And, while you're at it, GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU INSANE FREAK! Have a nice day."  
  
So...that probably wasn't the best explanation for him to use.  
  
But then it struck him that the last part of the explanation was true. Because if Kagome killed Sesshoumaru, he would die.  
  
And, if his memories were anything to judge by, Kagome did end up killing Sesshoumaru.  
  
Which, he decided as he scanned the youkai's memories starting from where he'd been shot by Kagome, gave him about another...week to live.  
  
This is the reason that one does not like being the reincarnation of a demon lord from the Feudal Era when your friend commonly travels back in time to the Feudal Era and ends up killing you.  
  
But there really wasn't much Kiyoshi could do about that.  
  
He muttered another soft complaint and tried rolling over, but Kurihara frowned and stopped him. "Don't move. We're going to stitch up that gash in your side."  
  
Talk about being comforting. Couldn't she just have said she was going to heal him?

* * *

"Kagome, is something wrong?" Eri's voice on the cell phone sounded slightly worried. "You don't seem at all excited about the newest fashion styles."  
  
"Do you have Taisho's phone number?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
Silence. "Can't you use the phone book? Wait, he's not in there, he just moved in. Um...you might want to call Kimika. She's been hanging around him quite a bit."  
  
"Ok. What's Kimi's number?"  
  
"Hold on." Kagome waited calmly. "Here, it's one-one-two-three-five-eight- one. (A/N: Can anyone tell me what sequence that's from? Hint: The last number is only the tens digit of the number that should logically follow in the sequence.) Why are you so interested in talking to Taisho, anyways? You're ignoring me, Yuka, and Ayumi."  
  
"I need to go," Kagome replied absently, hanging up the phone. She dialed Kimika's combination.  
  
"Hello, this is Iveni Kimika."  
  
"Kimi? It's Kagome."  
  
"Oh!" The voice on the other end sounded rather surprised, which wasn't too unexpected, since the two girls had never been close friends. "Hi, Kagome. What do you need?"  
  
"Do you have Taisho's phone number?"  
  
A slight pause on the end. "Um...yes. Two-three-five-seven-one-one-one." (A/N: Yay, what are all these numbers?)  
  
"Thanks, Kimi, I need to go now." Again, Kagome hung up before the other girl had time to ask what was going on.  
  
She dialed Kiyoshi's number and waited hopefully.  
  
Ahhh! The phone line was busy!  
  
She was going to kill someone.  
  
Normally, at this time, she'd be in the Feudal Era, calmly trying to restrain Inuyasha from killing Shippou. She'd also be cooking ramen, a huge bowl of it, and Inuyasha would slurp it up in a matter of milliseconds...  
  
But she wasn't in the Feudal Era.  
  
She punched in the numbers again, viciously. The phone rang.  
  
Once...twice...  
  
"Hello, you have reached the Taisho residence. Please leave a message at the tone."  
  
Hanging up before the annoying beep could be heard, she slumped back on her bed.  
  
Ok, she was going to try one more time. She quickly dialed the numbers. The phone rang.  
  
"Hello?" a voice asked.  
  
Yes! She was through!  
  
"Hi, can I speak to Taisho Kiyoshi?"  
  
A slight pause. "I'm sorry, you must have the wrong number." Click.  
  
Ugh.  
  
Boredom.  
  
She sat down at her desk and wondered what Inuyasha was currently doing. Was he ok? Was he completely healed? Did he miss her? Was he sorry for what he'd done?  
  
She absently began to sketch a picture. Narrowed golden eyes stared up from the page, the silvery hair tumbling around the shoulders. As an afterthought, she added a few details to the face, the slightly doggy-ish nose.  
  
When she finally realized what she was drawing, she crumpled up the paper and threw it into the trash, stumbling down the stairs. "What's for dinner?"  
  
"Oden." Mrs. Higurashi waited for the usual stream of her daughter's overhyper squeals, but even the thought of her favorite meal couldn't cheer her up. She walked languidly into the kitchen and poured a glass of chocolate milk, bolting it down as if it were whisky.  
  
Delicious. From that moment on, she resolved to drown all her sorrows in a glass of the intoxicatingly sweet beverage.

* * *

Glancing furtively around him, Inuyasha slid into the well, not noticing that Shippou was perched in a tree, Kirara was carrying Sango in the sky high above the clearing, and Miroku, covered with a blanket of leaves, was, in fact, right next to the well. The hanyou jumped out into Kagome's time and headed for her window.  
  
The room was unoccupied. He leapt through the window and peered around at his surroundings. He was heading towards the door when he paused, catching a glimpse of a picture at the bottom of her trash can.  
  
Reaching furtively in, he retrieved the crumpled sketch and smoothed it out.  
  
It was a picture of a field of flowers, wild blossoms with blue and pale pink streaks. And in the center, two people were embracing. No, more than embracing...they were kissing, deeply, tenderly, lovingly.  
  
One of the people was clearly Kagome. Inuyasha recognized the school uniform, although her face was turned away.  
  
And as for the other...  
  
The half-opened golden eyes in the picture showed sadness and longing. His hands were clasping the girl's waist tightly, his silver hair disheveled slightly. And his bangs were parted just enough to reveal the crescent moon on his forehead.  
  
Sesshoumaru...?  
  
Turning, the hanyou fled back out the window and into the well, running blindly for the solitude of the forest.

* * *

Yay, another chapter. Yes, this was really short, but my report card came in, and my French grade proves that je suis tres bete. (That translates to I am very stupid). So...I'm grounded. Which means I'm generally writing these when everyone else is asleep...so if the quality deteriorates, don't blame me. Blame my French teacher. -FlamingDrake


	4. Assassin

_Wow. I haven't updated this story in a long time. I guess getting lots of reviews on Involuntary Connections prompted me to pay more attention to that fic..._

_Oh well. Here's the next chapter. –FlamingDrake_

* * *

Demon Reincarnate

Disclaimer: I seem to be forgetting these a lot. At any rate, if I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't be writing fanfics.

Chapter Four - Assassin

"Kagome? Someone's calling for you." Souta waved a phone.

"Who?" She was not in the mood to talk to anyone today.

The boy shrugged. "Um...dunno..."

"Give me that!" She yanked the phone from his grasp. "Kagome Higurashi here..."

'Miss Higurashi? This is Dr. Kurihara from Fujiwarano Sai Memorial Hospital.'

Kagome pressed the phone closer to her ear. "Hospital? What's going on?"

'There's a friend of yours here. Kiyoshi Taisho...? He asked specifically for us to contact you and ask you to come over.'

"He...what? What's wrong with him?"

'Can you come or not? We're in the middle of an operation right now, but he said he would sue for no reason in particular if we didn't contact you.'

"I'll be there." Kagome pressed 'end' on the cell and tossed it back into Souta's hands. She darted towards the garage.

It didn't matter that she didn't have her license, did it? After all, she knew enough about cars, such as the facts that they were usually made of metal and had horns that honked loudly.

That was enough...right?

Five minutes later, as she inched the already battered car down the highway at twenty miles an hour, with the aforementioned horns blaring on all sides, she wondered if she was doing the right thing.

"Excuse me, miss. Please pull over."

"Hnn?" Kagome blinked at the police vehicle parked next to her. "Oh. Um, ok." She did so and promptly knocked over a mailbox.

The police officer jumped out of the car, glaring at her. "Are you driving drunk?"

"Drunk? No, of course not, I've never had a drink in my life!" She contemplated that. "Well, there was that one time that I thought the wine was white grape juice, because I love white grape juice. So I drank it all – it didn't really taste different, but then again I had a cold, so I couldn't taste much – and it was delicious. So there was a whole decanter just sitting on the table, and I drank that too. Then I started feeling dizzy, and later my mother told me it was champagne, not grape juice."

"...oh..." The officer frowned. "May I see your driver's license?"

Ah, crap.

"No, you may not, because actually I'm in a driving class right now – or was, anyways – and...and my permit is in the mail."

"Really." The officer peered at her. "Underage driving is a serious offense."

"You don't understand! A friend of mine's in the hospital, and for all I know he could be dying – he's having an operation, and he asked specifically to see me!"

"Right. That's the kind of story no one believes."

Kagome growled. "Fine, arrest me. But first, drive me to Fujiwarano Sai Memorial Hospital."

"And I should do this why?"

Mutely, she pulled out a twenty dollar bill from her wallet and handed it over. It was sad to think that she was bribing a policeman, but then again, the legal system was corrupt already.

"All right, kid. Get in." The officer accepted the money eagerly.

This was really pathetic. But she didn't have a choice, did she?

However, she'd make sure that Kiyoshi paid her fifty dollars in reparations.

* * *

"You must be Miss Higurashi."

"Brilliant observation," Kagome muttered dryly, due to the fact that she had a disgustingly cheerful visitor's tag pinned to her blouse that read 'Hi, My Name is Kagome Higurashi!' "Where's Taisho?"

"In there." The doctor – at any rate, that was what the white coat suggested, even if she looked like she'd be more comfortable at some fashion show – gestured to a door.

She pushed open the door and carefully slipped in. "Kiyoshi?"

"Ow...shit, it hurts..."

Kagome blinked at him. "What hurts?"

His golden eyes were fixed completely on her face as he slid back the sheets to reveal the long, crimson scar slashing across his side. He didn't miss the sharp exclamation.

"But that's –"

"Oh, I know. It's what you did to Sesshoumaru, isn't it?"

"I..." Kagome was suddenly doubting the wisdom of coming here. "You mean...I...did that?"

"I should think so." Kiyoshi tried to smile, but his mouth curved up into something resembling a grimace instead.

"So...so...you mean...you're still connected...?"

"It has something to do with your being from the future," he replied listlessly. "Because it's only you, of course. The hanyou or taijiya or monk could slice open Sesshoumaru and I wouldn't care. But you kill him, and I'm taking a trip to meet Kami-sama."

Trying to grasp the concept, Kagome moved slightly closer. "And...and how long is it?"

Kiyoshi didn't need to ask what she was talking about. "One week."

"Oh..." Kagome turned away and tried not to scream. Her life was complicated enough. "So you're going to die if I shoot you."

He smiled gently. "There's no 'if', Kagome."

"What if I make Inuyasha do it? Or Sango? Or Miroku? Then you'd be safe, and I'd be safe, and..."

"Kagome, come here, please."

She moved over reluctantly, standing above him.

"Look," he whispered. "You're beautiful, young, intelligent – at times – and you have a future. Don't worry about me."

"Kiyoshi..."

"Kagome...?"

His arms suddenly reached up, winding around her neck, pulling her down, and then he was kissing her, fiercely, passionately, and she was lost in a myriad of emotions that no one, not even Inuyasha, had ever inspired in her.

He was the one who finally pulled away, his fists clenched tightly. She stared at him. "Kiyoshi...?"

He grinned. "It seems as if I've fallen in love with my assassin..." A few minutes later, however, the grin dissipated. "I'm sorry, Kagome."

"No, I...I don't mind..." Did he really care about her that much?

"Not for the kiss." He was smiling again, but it was a wistful, sad smile. "For something else."

"For what?"

He merely shook his head. "You can leave now," he said softly. "I've accomplished what I meant to." His gold eyes darted to the door, and he sighed. "Remember, Kagome, I care about you."

"Oh, well, I mean..." Kagome stuttered, rather surprised and confused. "I...I care about you to, Kiyoshi, and..."

"Please, just go."

"...ok..." She pushed open the door and let it swing shut behind her.

Turning, she made her way past the hospital and noted, rather amusedly, that the police officer had apparently appreciated her 'gift' to him, since he was nowhere in sight. She hopped into the car and took off at a slightly more respectable pace of 40 miles per hour.

Of course, on a 65 mph road, that probably wasn't intelligent. Oh well.

She pulled into the garage and darted up the stairs, her fingers still tracing her lips as if it would help her remember every detail of that moment. Her hand tightened on the doorknob, then stopped, as she heard someone moving around inside.

Inuyasha was waiting for her.

_

* * *

_

_Please R&R! And do the same for my other fic too, please? Thanks! -FlamingDrake_


	5. News

Ok. I admit that I am officially an idiot. Firstly, I'm extremely sorry; secondly, I should have listened to Cat.

Basically, this is what happened. My senior homework is completely overwhelming me, due to all the AP's and junk I have to take, and college applications, etc. So, after a long period of uncertainty (that's why the updates stopped), I'm quitting, too.

Wow. I seem to be following the same path as Cat.

Anyways. To any readers of my stories: if you want to continue/use the plot for Cat's stories, write a review or send an email to me stating why you think you're eligible to do a good job on these (i.e. winning writing competitions, having taken AP English, etc.). Or you can send me a piece of writing you've done and I'll read it and decide. For those of you who want to continue these stories, I'll post your username on my bio to explain that I'm handing these stories over.

My email's posted in my bio. Thanks.

FlamingDrake


End file.
